Based on RFA reports (9 September 16, 8 September 16) citing local sources, on August 24, 2016, public security officials detained two monks in separate operations at Sogtsang Monastery, located in Ruo’ergai (Dzoege) county, Aba (Ngaba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province. Gedun Dragpa (“Gendun Drakpa,” age 39) served as Sogtsang’s treasurer and Lobsang Sherab (age about 35) worked in the monastery’s shop. A source told RFA that that Gedun Dragpa was not involved in “illegal [political] activities,” that officials had asked him about Sogtsang’s “finances and operating fund,” and that he may have viewed “news programs broadcast from outside Tibetan areas.” Police detaining Lobsang Sherab burst into his quarters during a nighttime raid. Lobsang Sherab and his roommates mistook the police for robbers; police forced the monks to lie on the floor at gunpoint. One source suggested the monks had been taken “toward” Sichuan’s capital, Chengdu. RFA (21 June 17 (Chinese); 21 June 17 (English)) reported that a court in Heishui (Trochu) county, Aba, sentenced the two in June 2017 to prison terms of 4 to 5 years on charges of "inciting separatism" and "illegally sharing information outside the country." Their places of detention were unknown.